Strong earthquake rocks Myanmar, casualties reported

A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8 rocked central Myanmar Sunday morning collapsing a bridge under construction, several Buddhist pagodas and a gold mining site and causing the death of at least six people.

The earthquake struck at 7:42 a.m. local time according to the meteorological office in the capital city of Naypyitaw .

According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), the epicenter of the quake was traced at 52km (32mi) NNE of Shwebo and 64km (40mi) W of Mogok, Myanmar.

Initial news reports mentions at least six people perished at the collapse bridge which was under construction. The businessweek.com reports as many as 12 casualties have been reported.

No casualties have been reported so far in the populated city of Mandalay and Myanmar's capital city of Naypyitaw.

Damages were reported at some gold mining sites but no casualties there were reported since the gold mining operations were old and deserted.